Kandahar woman scripts Quran in delicate embroidery

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): A young woman from southern Kandahar province has scripted the entire holy Quran with embroidery and wants to present her highly artistic work to the National Museum.

Zamarud Afghan, 28, spent seven and half a years embroidering the holy book. She never went to school and learned the Quran from her mother. She can also read and write.

In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, the woman said she had been interested in writing, reading and embroidery since her childhood, an urge that encouraged her to do the delicate work.

Days after her father's death years ago, she decided to write the Quran by sewing all its verses on a cloth -- a difficult job no one had done before. Afghan wrote the Quranic verses on a piece of cloth with a pencil before embroidering them.

In an effort to ensure accuracy, Afghan showed each page of the cloth to a religious scholar before she embroidered it. She has embroidered the Quran with a yellow silk yarn.

Asked why she chose Urdu translation of the Quran, the woman replied she had lived as a refugee in Pakistan, where she had no access to the Quran with Pashto or Dari translations.

Afghan said she completed the embroidering the Quran in seven years and six months and worked daily from morning to late night.

She added her mother and other women in the neighbourhood asked her to quit the challenging task, but she continued. At times, she would work secretly because she felt relaxed doing it that way.

The woman said her job was really hard, but its completion had truly amazed her. Afghan has embroidered each of 30 Surahs (chapters) in separate volumes.

Although she has received no assistance from the government or NGOs, she is ready to hand over her work to the National Museum.

She said peace was her aspiration, which would enable people to send their sons and daughters to school. She does not want Afghan children to be deprived of education.

Matihullah, her brother, commended Afghan's work as a source of pride and happiness for his entire family. He said his sister had used 270 metres of white and green fabric, 630 metres of yarn and other materials to produce the marvellous work.

Shafia, a resident of Kandahar City and embroidery expert, praised Afghan’s work as unprecedented and difficult in terms of elegance and innovation. She said Kandahari women’s handicrafts were specific in art as they put in a lot of efforts.

Writing every word of the Quran with thread is far more difficult needing patience, according to Sharifa, who said it s out of the ability of many people.

She asked the government and cultural organisations to acknowledge the trail-blazing endeavour of Zemard Afghan and exyend her richly-deserved support.